Marry My Dead Body – Fantasia 2023

A homophobic police detective finds himself “ghost married” to a gay man who died in a hit-and-run in Marry My Dead Body. Wu Ming-Han (Greg Han Hsu) is a homophobic police detective working with his partner Lin Tzu-Ching (Gingle Wang) to bring down drug lord Lin Hsiao-Yuan (Chen-Nan Tsai). While chasing a suspect, Wu picks up a red envelope, which was planted by the grandmother (Man-Chiao Wang) of Mao Pang-Yu (Austin Lin), a gay man who recently died in a hit-and-run. Wu is forced to undergo a ghost marriage to Mao and the only way to rid himself of the ghost is to fulfil his dying wishes.

Marry My Dead Body Synopsis

Marry My Dead Body is a comedy co-written and directed by Taiwanese director Cheng Wei-Hao. The film is a mix of queer buddy comedy and police procedural as Detective Wu Ming-Han, revealed in the film's opening to be deeply homophobic, finds himself husband to the ghost of Mao Pang-Yu. As part of his efforts to help him crossover, Wu decides to solve the hit-and-run that killed Mao and discovers ties to the drug lord the precinct is trying to take down.

My Thoughts on Marry My Dead Body

Marry My Dead Body has a very sitcom-like premise, as the homophobic protagonist Wu Ming-Han has to learn to co-exist with his gau ghost husband Mao Pang-Yu, with this very awkward situation played heavily for laughs. The film is actually better when the police procedural aspects go front and centre, particularly an enjoyable climax that sees Mao possessing various criminals to help out Wu. While I would argue that Marry My Dead Body does play a bit into gay stereotypes, the film is ultimately all in good fun.

Trailer for Marry My Dead Body – Fantasia 2023